(LifeSiteNews) — A BBC correspondent experienced a swift backlash after he published a photo of his same-sex partner holding their surrogate’s baby, whom he described as “beautiful hand luggage.”
“After 6 weeks in wonderful [Canada] and tearful farewells to our incredible surrogate & friend, it’s time to go home to Lisbon with our new family member: our most beautiful hand luggage,” tweeted Mark Lowen. Included in his Twitter post was a photo of his partner, Pedro Penim.
After 6 weeks in wonderful 🇨🇦 and tearful farewells to our incredible surrogate & friend, it’s time to go home to Lisbon with our new family member: our most beautiful hand luggage. Canada: you are a shining light of democracy & equality. Thank you for letting us fulfil our dream pic.twitter.com/uc0q6EhWsN
— Mark Lowen (@marklowen) January 29, 2023
One of Penim’s Instagram posts describes Lowen as his “husband” and celebrated their fourth anniversary of their “marriage.”
Lowen and Penim apparently obtained their new baby in Canada, which the former described as “a shining light of democracy & equality. Thank you for letting us fulfil our dream.”
The tweet earned Lowen plenty of criticism from people deriding their objectification of the child.
“A baby is not ‘hand luggage,’” tweeted Live Action CEO Lila Rose. “Not an accessory. Not property. A child is a human being with rights. Children don’t exist for the sake of an adult ‘dream.’ This baby also deserves a mom—biological or adopted. Creating her only to intentionally deprive her is morally wrong & cruel.”
A baby is not “hand luggage.” Not an accessory. Not property. A child is a human being with rights. Children don’t exist for the sake of an adult “dream.”
This baby also deserves a mom—biological or adopted. Creating her only to intentionally deprive her is morally wrong & cruel https://t.co/rI5sMUye9d
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) January 31, 2023
Katy Faust, founder of the children’s rights organization Them Before Us, noted Lowen’s phrasing and criticized him for separating the baby girl from her natural family. She was responding to a tweet in which Lowen posted a video of two siblings reuniting.
“The irony of a man who intentionally separated his daughter from her mother via egg ‘donor’ and surrogacy sharing this tearful video of reunited twins separated from birth… YOU have inflicted this *exact loss* on your baby,” tweeted Faust. “She will also long for the mother you deprived her of.”
The irony of a man who intentionally separated his daughter from her mother via egg “donor” and surrogacy sharing this tearful video of reunited twins separated from birth… YOU have inflicted this *exact loss* on your baby. She will also long for the mother you deprived her of. pic.twitter.com/BAonKQyNfM
— Katy Faust (@Advo_Katy) January 31, 2023
Conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey described surrogacy as “sick and selfish.” And Fr. Matthew Schneider said: “There are good reasons you can’t do this in Portugal & had to go across the world: surrogate parenting (rent-a-womb) is demeaning to women. I’m ashamed my home country [Canada] allows this exploitative practice.”
There are good reasons you can’t do this in Portugal & had to go across the world: surrogate parenting (rent-a-womb) is demeaning to women. I’m ashamed my home country🇨🇦 allows this exploitative practice. https://t.co/6wNIPdfXaG
— Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC (@FrMatthewLC) January 31, 2023
The radical LGBT agenda infiltrating the Catholic Church is persecuting another brave priest, who now desperately needs your help to speak on his behalf.
Fr. Joachim Wernersbach has been SUSPENDED by his abbot of the Benedictine Tholey Abbey for preaching against gender ideology and the heterodox Synodal Way — pushed by Pope Francis and the German Synod of Bishops.
Fr. Wernersbach is also suspended from performing pastoral activists in the surrounding parish, and is being subject to “an ecclesiastical investigation.”
We need everyone to speak up for suspended priest Fr. Wernersbach — the LGBT agenda cannot claim another brave and devout priest.
SIGN and SHARE now.
Pro-life and pro-family priests around the world are being silenced and cancelled, while pro-LGBT activists get hand-written letters from the Pope, like Fr. James Martin.
Fr. Wernersbach simply reiterated Catholic teaching in his Christmas homily: "You hear about gender and transgender, transhumanism and reproductive health, wokeness and LGBTQ, diversity and identity. Of multiple genders and gender reassignment, plus this devastating new understanding of revelation from the Synodal Way," he said.
"My dear friends, even the terms are absolutely disturbing. They all have one thing in common: they lack beauty, they lack coherence, and they lack naturalness. They are not aligned, not in harmony with the inconceivably beautiful Divine Order."
For this denunciation of anti-Catholic trends, Fr. Wernersbach has been suspended by his own abbot. The entire homily has also been removed from YouTube.
The systematic persecution of pro-life and pro-family priests must end now.
Demand that Fr. Wernersbach be restored to full priestly ministry and demand that his superiors STOP shilling for the LGBT agenda!
Good and faithful priests are being systematically cancelled — but you can raise your voice to stop the attacks.
SIGN NOW before it’s too late.
Fr. Wernersbach needs your voice!
MORE INFORMATION:
German priest punished by superiors for preaching against gender ideology, Synodal Way
But Lowen also received accolades. “Amazing congrats you both!” tweeted CBS News correspondent Ramy Inocencio. A senior BBC producer similarly congratulated the duo.
After 6 weeks in wonderful 🇨🇦 and tearful farewells to our incredible surrogate & friend, it’s time to go home to Lisbon with our new family member: our most beautiful hand luggage. Canada: you are a shining light of democracy & equality. Thank you for letting us fulfil our dream pic.twitter.com/uc0q6EhWsN
— Mark Lowen (@marklowen) January 29, 2023
Some Twitter users defended Lowen. One responded to Stuckey by saying: “So a gay couple decided to do surrogacy and bring a life into the world and you’re upset about that? Pro-life until the parents are gay, I guess.”
“It’s not ‘pro-life’ to create a person with the intention of taking her away from her mother by buying eggs and renting a womb, but good try,” Stuckey shot back.
So a gay couple decided to do surrogacy and bring a life into the world and you’re upset about that?
Pro-life until the parents are gay, I guess 😒 https://t.co/A2oYUFaWKV
— Matt Convard (@MattConvard) January 31, 2023
According to his Twitter profile, Mark Lowen is the BBC Rome correspondent, covering Southern Europe. He has recently commented on Vatican news, apparently perturbed that Pope Francis has supported homosexuality beyond calling for the decriminalization of homosexual acts. In a response to an Associate Press tweet reporting that Pope Francis “calls laws criminalizing homosexuality ‘unjust’ and asserts: ‘Homosexuality is not a crime.’ The pontiff says God loves all his children just as they are,” Lowen responded, “…but goes on to call it a ‘sin’.”
The controversy over Lowen’s baby tweet was just the latest uproar over comments by same-sex partners regarding the children they obtain via surrogacy. Typically derided as “womb renting,” the practice usually involves finding an egg donor as well as a woman to carry the child. Right-leaning commentator Dave Rubin notably likened the process of finding an egg donor to using the hook-up app Tindr.
READ: Matt Walsh challenges Joe Rogan on same-sex ‘marriage’ and surrogacy: ‘Mom is not expendable’
Last summer, a video emerged showing a same-sex couple describing the attributes they sought while choosing an egg donor. “So, we wanted her to have lovely big eyes,” one of the men says while holding the baby. “I wanted her to have really thick hair because I’ve had two hair transplants. I wanted her to have a really wide nice smile and to look like a kind person.” The other man interjected: “Yeah, and we wanted her to be creative because we love the arts.”
The BBC did not immediately respond to LifeSite’s request for comment.